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Hawaii Five-0 Review: Cat and Mouse

Move over Wo Fat, there is a new criminal genius in town - and she's hot. Olivia Victor is smart, sexy and very deadly.

While I don’t like seeing Steve made to look dumb, I was okay with it in the cat and mouse game Olivia and him played here, even when Steve ended up the mouse more than the cat. I mean, come on Steve, when the woman who has a restraining order against you invites you for drinks, you should know she is up to something.

Vanessa Marcil has come a long way since playing Sam Marquez on Vegas. I really hope that Olivia figures out how to get out of jail and beat the charges so she is able to come back to play with Five-0 again; she was a refreshing change of criminal.

I especially liked the twist that the private investigator was blackmailing Olivia’s clients, I didn't see that one coming. Though I’m surprised she didn't grab the laptop if she took the time to drive t to his stakeout and shoot him. Maybe someone else shot him for her and wasn't as smart as she is.

In the other half of the episode, we had the hot mess that was Agent Channing and Catherine trying to stop a Colombian assassin that was believed to be dead from finding Doris McGarrett. I’m not even sure where to start with how many ways this went wrong, so I’m just going to list them:

Agent Channing at Catherine’s House: If he was suspended, how was he carrying a gun? And if he found out enough about Catherine to know where she lives, why didn't he go to her commanding officer? I’m pretty sure he would know that the military frowns on officers committing crimes, especially something that could be seen as a breach of national security.

Oh, and let's not forget that if showing up at her house with a gun while suspended wasn't ridiculous enough; Channing felt she was the best qualified person to help with a "quiet mission" and that she agreed after she had to fight him for the gun. My WTF Meter shot to 11.

Catherine Rollins super spy: I have to ask, what Navy officer (that is not a SEAL) has hacking equipment to break into a hotel room and/or a digital room safe? While we are at it, in what frakking universe does a Navy communications officer carry a side-arm off duty and not work during the day to run around with a Witness Protection agent playing cops and robbers?

Mr. Lenkov, if you want to make Catherine an agent, a private investigator, a spy or some other cloak and dagger character, go for it. Michelle Borth looks great kicking in doors and hacking into safes, but for goodness’ sake, please have her leave military as her "day job." She’s broken so many laws that she would have been court marshaled several times by now.

Doris McGarrett and Mangosta: While I like the idea in principle that Doris turned the tables on Mangosta, it showed a very dark side of a fairly new character to have her torturing the guy when Channing and Catherine walked in.

So what did you think of the episode? I’m giving it 3.8 leftover Thanksgiving turkeys for the introduction of a great new villain facing off against Steve, but one of the most ridiculous Catherine (or Doris) stories to date.

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As for Catherine being an Intelligence Officer, if you go back and watch the pilot, Steve calls her on the ship where she is a communications officer to ask her to pull up a satellite image. None of the Intelligence Officers I knew in the USAF had access to satellites but Comm Officers did. :)

I want to chime in on the "it's only a TV Show" or "Reality Police" comments. The bottom line is that Hawaii Five-O like ALL shows sets parameters for it's story telling and when it drifts outside of those it break the 4th wall and takes me out of the story. My disappointments with any part of an episode (or any show) takes into account what the show has set as "normal". I'm pretty sure we would all scream foul if McG started carrying a phaser and teleporting to crime scenes or Kono announced that she really is a cybornetic robot made to look like the species that created her race. So, if you are watching an episode and have to think "It's only a TV Show" then the story teller is doing something wrong and part of reviewing a show it noting those.

Allie•November 29, 2012 06:51

Enjoyed the "Book her, Danno" and the smirk on Steve's face for being right about Olivia. Did not expect that she was a madam but the cat and mouse game was entertaining. However, the sub story with Channing, Cath and Doris left me with mixed feelings. Doris torturing Mangosta with electric shocks was surprising, I would have expected her to hang him over the side of a tall building to make him talk. Asking Cath to keep a secret from Steve does not bode well for the future. Overall, I was still entertained and intrigued with where the Doris and Cath storyline is headed.

I confess. I'm a member of the "reality police" that people complain about. Yes I know its just a TV show. With only 46-48 minutes to tell a story time compression is a necessity.It takes weeks or months in real life to get phone records, bank records,lab reports, etc that H50 gets in minutes with their magic table top computer. Notice this week they ID'd the victim in minutes with "facial recognition software" even though his face resembled a charcoal briquet. The problem is too many people think this is real because it's on TV or a movie. Our court system is having problems because jurors are expecting "CSI" type evidence {i.e. the Casey Anthony case).

This episode was good but I agree the whole Catherine/Channing part made no sense at all. I feel like they're just trying to make Catherine a part of the show, whether it makes sense or not. What exactly is her job that she carries a gun while not working and can put people on a no fly list? In season 1 we mostly saw her aboard a ship in uniform. Now she's running around with safe cracking devices?

jennymac•November 28, 2012 22:05

I'd rank this one as fair to middling, simply because O'Loughlin was on fire in this ep. It's too bad they couldn't find anyone compatible to play his counterpart and had to settle for Vanessa Marcil, as her acting was as dry and lifeless as her hair. I found Catherine and Agent Channing much more enjoyable in their efforts than poor Steve matching wits with a witless shrink. That scene in the restaurant? So very over-acted. BTW...the term is "court-martialed", not "court marshaled". Apparently there are no spell checkers at tvfanatic.com

Tony D•November 28, 2012 16:22

continued: Jump the shark mentality. Everyone thinks that any average character or poor plot is a sign a show has seen its best days. If a show lasts five seasons, that's roughly 115 episodes. Chances are, there will be a few stinkers in there somewhere. What you have to hope for as a fan is for the show to produce three or four really good nuggets each season that moves the underlying theme (in this case the mystery of Mcgarrett) along. In between, all you're really entitled to as a fan is to be entertained more often than not. If you are, it's a great show. If you're not, you'll stop watching and/or the show will be canceled.

Tony D•November 28, 2012 15:21

Hawaii Five 0 is actually the only original, episodic television show I watch these days, and that's refreshing. I have so many DVDs of a lot of old shows that I watch (including the original HFO), but it's nice to anticipate a new show each and every week. Regardless of secondary characters and sub-plots, I love the essence of HFO, and a lot of people who watch this show seem to forget the true theme of the show: It's an action/drama with a little humor mixed in, and it's an escape from reality. Are some of the plots surreal? Of course. But then again, Bruce Lee/Chuck Norris/Jackie Chan have been in movies where they took out 12 guys, one at a time. People still love them. Like I said many times, had the Internet existed back in the 70's and 80's, some of the greatest shows of all time would have been ripped apart on message boards such as this. The problem with television today is there is way too much scrutiny with every little aspect of a show. I blame the "Jump the shark" mentality for that. If a show runs five seasons, that would be roughly 115 episodes. During that time, there is almost always going to be a show that was mediocre or a story that doesn't add up. People expect new ground to be broken in every episode, and that's just not plausible. If you can find two, three, four true nuggets each and every season, the writers and producers are doing their job.

People need to stop over analyzing every little aspect of the show and the writing. Yes some things such as the restraining order may be improbable but no one cares, as long as people are entertained. Sure, there is a point where it can be so stupid that its hard to watch, but I don't think H50 ever crosses that line. Stop complaining about Doris and Catherine too, you may think their characters aren't written well or whatever, but then you have to think of what the show would be like if they didn't change things up and try out new stories. The show would not develop and it would just go straight downhill. Chill out everyone.

ke•November 28, 2012 08:25

I love Cath and at least she has skills unlike Danny who is usless in every episode. It would be nice to see him actually back up Steve rather than constantly mock his instincts. Great to see the hard nosed Steve back in action. I liked that they wove in 2 stories and enjoyed both. It seems that the audience are returning as well which reflects the much better plots and better writing. I hope they keep it up.